Arlington, VA – The Office of the Director of
the U.S. Marshals Service is pleased to announce that the U.S. Marshals Florida
Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force (FRFTF), including its Tallahassee
Office, received a Director’s Honorary Award today during a ceremony in
Arlington, VA. The FRFTF was commended for their part in assisting local and
state law enforcement agencies in apprehending Florida’s most violent felons in
2010. The Director’s Honorary Distinguished Group Award is given for outstanding
accomplishments and success of a specified group within the agency. The FRFTF
was nominated by U.S. Marshal Dennis Williamson for the Northern District of
Florida, citing their growth and accomplishments in their first year as a
Regional Fugitive Task Force and statistical data of fugitives arrested and
warrants cleared in 2010. The Florida Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force is
presently comprised of 87 law enforcement agencies in the State of Florida
including 6 federal, 3 state, and 78 local agencies with a total of 304 task
force officers. The FRFTF has office locations in Pensacola, Tallahassee,
Jacksonville, Gainesville, Tampa, Fort Myers, Fort Pierce, Fort Lauderdale, West
Palm Beach, Miami, and Orlando.

“There is no doubt that our task force has had a major impact in making our
communities safer, by taking violent criminals off the streets,” said FRFTF
Commander Frank Chiumento. Quoting task force statistics, Chiumento said, “In
2010, we apprehended a total of 5,650 fugitives clearing 6,665 warrants, and
seized 443 firearms, $2,200,850.00 in U.S. currency, 14 vehicles and almost 200
kg in narcotics.” Chiumento, who works in Orlando where the FRFTF Headquarters
Office is located, expressed his gratitude to the men and women who make up the
task force and credited the success of the task force to their hard work,
perseverance, and dedication. Chiumento stated “we credit them all for their
individual contributions in making this award possible and know that our task
force is truly a team effort by many and without that cooperation, support, and
devotion; we would not be able to accomplish all that we do.”

The Tallahassee Division of the FRFTF is comprised of law enforcement officers
from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office,
Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Leon County State Attorney’s Office, Liberty
County Sheriff’s Office, Madison County Sheriff’s Office, Perry Police
Department, Tallahassee Police Department, Taylor County Sheriff’s Office and
the Wakulla County Sheriff’s Office. These local law enforcement agencies
contribute approximately 23 officers in both full time and part time roles with
the officers sworn in as Special Deputy US Marshals. This deputation allows the
officers to cross their normal jurisdictional lines to pursue fugitives wanted
for violent crimes by their departments and gives their respective agencies
access to the full resources of the U.S. Marshals. This partnership has also
allowed significant cost savings to these agencies as the U.S. Marshals Service
has been able to purchase eight fully equipped vehicles for local departments as
well as reimburse the agencies for overtime expenses incurred during the pursuit
of locally wanted violent fugitives. U.S. Marshals and the above task force
members apprehended over 400 violent fugitives in the Tallahassee area alone
while clearing over 630 active felony warrants. Locally, task force members
arrested 20 individuals for homicide related charges, 30 for sex crimes, 22 sex
offenders/predators for Failure to Register, and over 130 fugitives for Robbery,
Assault and Weapon related offenses. Over 200 subjects were arrested on charges
ranging from Burglary, Car Theft, Kidnapping, Fraud, Narcotics, and Violation of
Probation where the original offense was a violent crime. U.S. Marshal Dennis
Williamson stated “ the combined efforts of these law enforcement agencies
partnered with the US Marshals FRFTF to combat violent crime by apprehending
these violent felons has had a positive impact on the safety of the citizens of
this area.” Nationally US Marshal led task forces similar to the Florida
Regional Fugitive Task Force arrested over 120,000 state and federal fugitives
in 2010.